Between the Panels: It's Time for Captain America to Get Political

The All-New, All-Different Marvel relaunch has been underway for a few weeks now, and while one of Marvel's new series has been in the mainstream news lately, it's not necessarily for the reasons the publisher would have wanted. Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuna's Captain America: Sam Wilson has stirred up some controversy this month because the title hero dared to get political. The first issue saw Sam publicly renounce his ties to S.H.I.E.L.D. and the US government and, in the tradition of like-minded heroes like Green Arrow, become a socialist hero of the common man. Not only is the idea of a politically motivated Captain America not a bad thing, it's just what Sam needs to distinguish himself from the other heroes who have wielded the shield before him.

Art by Stuart Immonen

The outrage over the first issue mostly stems from Sam's decision to travel to the American Southwest and do battle with the newest incarnation of the Sons of the Serpent. That group of villains has been re-imagined for the post-Secret Wars Marvel Universe as a band of militant white supremacists who round up and murder illegal immigrants. Sounds like exactly the sort of heinous evildoers Captain America was created to punch in the face, right? Not everyone seems to think so. Conservative think tank The MacIver Institute reported on the comic, claiming "The villains in this comic are conservatives, who are portrayed as a right-wing terrorist group." Following that, the Fox News program "Fox & Friends" picked up the story and bemoaned the fact that Cap has turned his wrath against conservatives. "Now the threat comes from ordinary Americans - probably some of you watching at home. They think you're dangerous." One of the hosts puts out the call to "keep politics out of comic books." The outrage has even spawned a petition to have Spencer removed from the comic (which as I'm writing this has attracted a whopping 65 signatures out of the desired 10,000).

Like many, I find it disturbing how quick the Fox & Friends crew are to identify themselves and their viewers with the Sons of the Serpent. This issue makes no bones about the fact that the Sons of the Serpent are bad people doing bad things in the name of a misguided sense of righteousness. That's been the modus operandi of this organization for the many decades it's existed in Marvel's comics. In that sense, little has changed in Cap's world. Just because they've been given a makeover that grounds them a bit more in reality doesn't make these villains worthy of sympathy.

However, this situation does bring up some interesting questions about Cap's role in the Marvel Universe, and also highlights the difference in how he's actually portrayed versus how some view the character. Cap is often held up as the ideal conservative superhero. He was built by the government to be the ultimate defender of truth, liberty and justice. He proudly wears his country's flag as a uniform. And he originally made his mark by socking Hitler in the jaw on the cover of Captain America Comics #1.

Art by Bryan Hitch

There are those who think the ultra-conservative, jingoistic, France-hating Captain America from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's The Ultimates is how the character is meant to be portrayed. The truth is that Ultimate Cap was more a parody or lesser version of the real thing.

Marvel's stories have shown time and time again that Cap's loyalty isn't with the government, but with the American people. In the mid-'70s, Steve Rogers abandoned the mantle of Cap due to his dissatisfaction with the government. In Millar and Steve McNiven's Civil War, he opposed S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government over the issue of superhuman registration. In the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he spoke out against S.H.I.E.L.D.'s militaristic policies and went rogue after discovering how compromised the organization was.

Art by Jack Kirby

As much as the image of Cap punching Hitler resonates with us today, at the time it was actually a fairly risky move on the part of creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Captain America Comics #1 hit the stands months before America entered World War II and declared war on Germany. In those days, America still had its share of Nazi sympathizers. Cap became the ultimate form of wish fulfillment for his Jewish-American creators. "We both read the newspapers," Simon said in an interview with NJ.com. "We knew what was going on over in Europe. World events gave us the perfect comic-book villain, Adolf Hitler, with his ranting, goose-stepping and ridiculous moustache. So we decided to create the perfect hero who would be his foil." In a way, Steve Rogers preemptively declaring war against Hitler is no different from Sam Wilson lashing out against the Sons of the Serpent. In both cases, the heroes valued saving innocent lives over toeing the party line.

No hero who drapes themselves in the American flag can be entirely apolitical. That's especially true for Cap, who lives in a superhero universe where the big selling point has always been that it reflects the world we live in. Given all the political turmoil plaguing the US these days - whether it involves immigration reform or gun control or race relations - why shouldn't a Captain America comic reflect the state of the nation? What's the point of a Captain America who spends all day fighting Nazi supervillains and giant robots and never interacts with the average man on the street he's supposed to be protecting?

Art by Daniel Acuna

With Sam now carrying on the legacy of Captain America, the time has never been better for the series to get political. Sam comes from a very different background than Steve. He's very much a hero devoted to self-sacrifice for the betterment of those around him. And we're seeing that trait inform how the character acts in his new role. He's not only battling extremists in the desert, he's speaking out against S.H.I.E.L.D.'s invasive surveillance tactics and defending an Edward Snowden-esque character known as "The Whisperer." These actions have just put him at odds with the government, they've caused an ideological split with his former best friend and partner. The response within the Marvel Universe isn't so different from the conversations readers have been having about the new Captain America. Some laud him as a hero of the common people, while others dismiss him as "Captain Socialism" and an insult to Steve's legacy.

It's clear from reading the first two issues of this series that Spencer doesn't have a hidden, sinister agenda in making Cap a more politically active hero. The series isn't a soapbox for Spencer's own political views. He's not even necessarily portraying Sam as being in the right. Both Sam and Steve have their own opinions of what Captain America's role should be. Neither is necessarily in the wrong. The series isn't shy about exploring some of the thornier issues that arise when Captain America takes the law into his own hands. Is it hypocritical for someone to slap on a costume and become a vigilante in order to stop another group of costumed vigilantes? You can even see the seeds of what may become the central conflict of the rumored Civil War 2 in these issues.

It's good that the new Captain America comic is a political book. These first two issues have done more to distinguish Sam Wilson as an "all-new, all-different" Captain America than an entire year's worth of stories that preceded them. It's because of these political elements that Cap's crusade feels more relevant than it has in years. But even as the series hones in on these elements, it doesn't lose sight of the fact that Cap's true agenda is nothing more radical than defending the innocent, regardless of color, creed or nationality. That ought to be something all superhero fans can get behind.